My letter “G” pick for this year’s A to Z Reading Challenge was THE GIFT OF FEAR by Gavin De Becker. The subtitle on the book is “Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence,” but I think it should be “Re-read This Book At Least Once A Year.”

Gavin De Becker is a security specialist who’s worked for governments, corporations, and celebrities. He’s been called upon as an expert witness in hundreds of trials, including some that were very high-profile. He gets into just how and why he’s so very qualified (and tragically overqualified) for the job, but suffice it to say he knows what he’s talking about.

This book has one very important message and he even tells you it’s meant primarily for women because we are overwhelmingly more likely to have violence visited upon us than men are. It’s a sad fact of life, but there it is. He takes us through various crime scenarios, some real, some hypothetical, and shows us the key moments when the victims (in retrospect) say “I kind of knew something was off,” or “”He was acting sort of strange . . .” and pulls the scene apart so we can recognize the things that triggered the trickle of unease that went down the victim’s spine.

He also goes in depth about the tricks perpetrators use to charm (which is a skill, not a character trait – an important distinction) and manipulate you into overriding your intuition out of fear of appearing rude or over-dramatic. So many women become victims because they don’t want to seem like a bitch.

He also talks about how we are all capable of predicting even the most abhorrent, unhinged behavior because rarely do violent acts truly come without warning. This book is a fascinating guide to listening to your gut on a purely instinctual level and not apologizing for a bit of it. You need to read this book. I’ll say that again in big old cappity caps. YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK. Five resounding stars and an enormous thank you to this author as I buy a copy to send to my daughter.